Cam waiting for swim class to start

When I was in college I would do whatever I could to schedule most of my classes on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Most semesters I, like millions of other college students, got my Fridays off. Most of the time I managed to keep my Mondays pretty light. As my college career moved along, I even managed to avoid the early morning classes, knowing that I wasn’t very likely to wake up early and brave the Syracuse winter as often as I should. By my senior year I pretty much had a 3.5 day weekend and a 3.5 day school week. Looking back 15 years later, that was incredible. And ridiculous. But it worked.

I’m now using those expert scheduling abilities with my son. We have a lot of potential activities to get involved in and if we’re not careful, the whole week could get away from us. Starting after the holidays we added two weekly activities to our standing Storytime commitment.

When scheduling these activities, only one thing really matters: Nap time. Cam is on a fairly regular schedule when it comes to naps. He still takes two, hourish-long naps every day. One late morning, and one mid-late afternoon. So like I did in college, sleep was the number one priority when I picked the times for his activities.

We started by eliminating Mondays and Fridays. A few reasons for this. First, at some point I’d like to have a semi-regular day or two where I interact with other (kid free) adults. Grab lunch with some buddies or head down to Bethesda to visit family. That’s hard to do when you are tied up most of the morning and then worried about naps and meals. Having a couple clean days every week seemed to make the most sense. It also allows us not to eat money if we are traveling and have to miss a class or two. Smartly these classes charge by either a “session” or by the month. Either way, if you miss, you aren’t getting a refund.

We like our Storytime slot on Wednesdays at 10. So that was our foundation to plan around. We wanted to get him into a music class and a swim class starting this month. Lucky for us, Meadowbrook pool (now owned by Michael Phelps) is just down the street. The Music Together class, which came highly recommended, is within just a couple miles as well. Having classes close to home is important. Getting home quickly for that nap makes all the difference. I’m still working on my car to crib nap transfer, so I prefer keeping him awake until we get home.

I’m a veteran of Storytime by now. We’ve been going just about every week (since its free, you can only sign up a week at a time) since we got settled back in October. I know what to expect every Wednesday at 10. I know the songs and the other kids and parents. I also know how much Cameron enjoys going each week. Starting new classes come with new fears, regardless of age.

Let’s start with our music class. This was supposed to start last Tuesday, but the weather cancelled our first class. We showed up this Tuesday and after getting a little lost (Daddy didn’t do enough research on WHERE within this huge building the class was) we got settled. This class is pretty serious business. We have take-home CDs, DVDs, and music books. Like homework! If Storytime makes you feel a little silly when belting out nursery rhymes, music class takes it to whole different level. The level of goofiness is something I wasn’t, and still am not, prepared for. Lots of singing and dancing and things. Most of the kids and parents were repeat customers, so us Fogarty boys had a bit of a deer-in-headlights look. Cam appears to be very musical already. Loves hearing music and clapping and making noise with things. I think this will work out well for him overall. The first class was a little rough. It was a 9:30am start, that was slightly delayed. It runs 45 mins, and since Cam woke up earlier than usual on Tuesday and never fell back asleep, it was a photo finish to pack up and leave before a giant meltdown. When we had to give up the instruments one by one, he was losing it. Which is a little out of character. Hopefully next week goes a bit more smoothly.

Swim class is something I was looking forward to. I think all kids should start swimming as young as possible. Our first class (I’m in the pool with him) was at 9:30am last Thursday. It should be noted that particular day was the coldest day of the year so far. It was something like 12 degrees when we left our house. I probably lost my Father of the Year award just by leaving the house. In fact no other kids showed up, so we had a one-on-one for our first thirty-minute class which was nice. Other than one uncomfortable trip underwater, he did great. I’m not really worried about him liking swimming. He’s proven comfortable in the water and will do great in this class. My concern is the logistics of changing him before and after the class. Especially in this cold weather. So far I put his rash guard and suit on at home and cover him with sweat pants, jackets and socks. That seems to work fine. But the after class change is still very much a work in progress. As is the concern that he will poop in his suit in the pool. He has one of these built in diaper suits. All the reviews rave about it, but nobody seems to address how it handles if he has a bad accident. I hope I never find out! If I do, it will get its own blog entry! Post-swim lesson means getting out of wet clothes and into something dry and warm for the ride home/nap. This is something I can do at home with my eyes closed. But in public (in this case the locker room) the stress level rises as he squirms and fusses as I try and use the awkwardly placed changing table. It’s a fight, which at times I appear to be losing. But we manage to make it home unscathed.

The middle of our week is now packed, just like my glory days. If only my 22-year-old self could see me now! I’m looking forward to our Fridays off. If anyone is ever free for lunch, let me know……